1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headwear item, more particularly, to a baseball-style cap having an opening at the topmost portion of the crown to allow hair gathered in a ponytail or braid to pass therethrough, and a closure for the opening in order to conceal the opening when the cap is worm by a wearer with short hair.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baseball style caps are commonly worn by people involved in sports activities and as fashion accessories. People with long hair find the traditional baseball cap uncomfortable to wear because their hair tends to get bunched up under the cap. In addition, it has now become fashionable to allow hair gathered into a ponytail or braid to hang out of the size adjustment cutout commonly found on the back of most baseball caps.
This solution however has been less than satisfactory because the adjustment cutout is generally lower than the base of the ponytail or braid so that a portion of the ponytail or braid still has to extend between the crown of the cap and the wearer's head. Therefore the problems associated with baseball caps not having the adjustment cutout still persist.
For the above reasons, many headwear items have been proposed that have openings provided specifically for a ponytail or braid to pass through.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,854, issued to Kronenberger, and U.S. design Pat. No. 173,620, issued to Krieger et al., show headwear items that have openings provided specifically for a ponytail or braid to pass through. The Kronenberger and Krieger et al. patents do not teach or suggest providing a removable closure for concealing the opening for the ponytail or braid. Thus the Kronenberger and Krieger et al. headwear are not suitable for men or women with short hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,705 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,509, both issued to Leopold, show ponytails passing through the adjustment cutout at the back of the baseball cap. The Leopold patents do not teach or suggest providing a separate opening for the ponytail, or providing a removable closure for concealing such an opening in a baseball cap.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,147,873, issued to Wittcoff, shows a closure for a headwear item made of two metal disks welded together. Wittcoff does not teach or suggest the use of a removable closure of the type used in the present invention.
Canadian patent 506 725 issued to Hoeflich, discloses a paper baseball cap, but does not teach or suggest the use of a removable closure of the type used in the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.